The streets that were once choked with traffic are now bare. The church's sprawling parking lot is half full. Inside the stylish sanctuary, ushers sway to choir music in front of empty seats. On a typical Sunday morning, New Birth Missionary Church in suburban Atlanta would be hopping. But on a recent Sunday, the sprawling church complex looked half-deserted and the mood seemed flat.
Six months after a sex scandal involving New Birth's senior pastor, Bishop Eddie Long, became public, the megachurch no longer packs them in. Yet there are loyalists, like C.D. Dixon, who have not joined the exodus.
"I come back to the church even more now because the word is more powerful," she said as she stood with a serene smile in the parking lot before a recent service.
Last fall, four young men accused Long of using his spiritual authority to pressure them into sexual relationships, charges that Long has vehemently denied. On Thursday, lawyers for the four men released a statement saying only that "the matter has been resolved." (read more)
1 comments (read or post your own):
God is omnipresent meaning found everywhere.
These pastors are just people at the end of the day, and capable of committing crimes like the next person. Instead of people placing all their hopes and trust in a pastor, they need to place their trust in the one creator....Therefore, you can stand and pause anywhere and talk to God.
Also, these Pastors make all their money and do they help people and communities, most of them help themselves to private jts and so on.
Not judging, just observing.
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